Spreadsheets do not have any dates. In Excel, Calc and other programs, all dates are formatted numbers in unit "Days". You can format these numbers any way you want and you can calculate with these numbers.

Point zero is 1899-12-30 00:00:00 (demo: Format a zero value as date-time).

The defaults for all numeric expressions is set up in Tools>Options>LanguageSettings>Languages: "Locale" (option #2)The locale can be overwritten by the number format locale of spreadsheet cells.

Input methods for dates in table cells (Writer, OpenOffice Calc, most spreadsheet programs, NOT LibreOffice):12/ --> this month's 12th day12/9 --> this year's 12th of September or this year's 9th of December (US locale)

When converting text to numbers, ISO date strings (YYYY-MM-DD) work with all locale settings.

When pasting plain text, html or when importing text files, you've got to choose the right locale setting and check the "special numbers" option. Otherwise you will import text dates.

Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.Ubuntu 16.04, OpenOffice 4.x & LibreOffice 5.x

OO will automatically pick this setting based on the locale provided by the system, but you can manually change the setting there also.

I don't think there is any "home" locale for OO. There are separate install packages for different locales but I think that's mostly a matter of packaging a specific configuration (specific help files, and such).

Let me put it another way. I want to know when I created a file. I’m in Texas (USA format MM/DD/YY). All I know to do is look at its properties. Example: I know I took a picture of a deer in 2014 but I don’t remember, and want to know what day I took it. I can get this with properties. If you were me and wanted the same information for an OO file, what would you do?

All I know to do is look at its properties. Example: I know I took a picture ...

Note that this is a different set of properties. The screen capture for your image file comes from the system and show information about the file. You can do the same for a document file to see the date the file was created/modified/etc.

The first screen capture you showed comes from OO looking at properties stored inside the document. These may be different than the properties stored on the file by the system.

I think you do have a good point: it would be better for OO to display the dates in some unambiguous format, as the system does for the file dates.

Somebody in a Windows forum told me how to do a search that shows me what I need. I don’t know what this stuff is stored in (I guess windows) but it gives me the dates I want so I don’t care. Curious- your avatar-wool cap-are you in a cold part of the world?